Fabric finishing machine



Jan. 28, 1941. G. WHITE FABRIC FINISHING MACHINE Filed June 7, 1939 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR ATTORNEY? 28, 1941. wHlTE 2,229,782

FABRIC FINISHING MACHINE Filed June 7, 1939 s Sheets-Sheet s TIM E DELAY AMPLIFIER RE 4 24""? 2 RELAY gill; I E l 34 J 8 2 /7 /6 4 1o PUMP nzon PUMP /Z i I I 59a 70 7/ J7 g I J0 3f {29a INLI?\ITOR ,6 ATTORN EYS Patented Jan. 28, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT Application June 7, 1939, Serial No. 277,961

2 Claims.

This invention relates to a device for automatically preventing the marring or defacing of finishing rolls of fabric finishing machines by transverse seams in the fabric being finished.

The seams referred to are present in the fabric due to the fact that a roll of fabric is made up of a plurality of lengths of fabric seamed together so that in a large roll numerous seams are present. -Without provision to the contrary, each time a seam would pass through the pair of rolls of the finishing machine an imprint of the seam would be made on the soft roll, it being pointed out that usually at least one of said rolls, preferably the upper one, is made of metal, while the other or lower one is softer, being made for instance of fibrous material, and that they. are pressed together under enormous pressure.

In order to obtain an even finish on the fabric these rolls must be kept in good condition, i. e., without mars on the surfaces thereof such as the impression that would be caused by the seam being pressed into the soft roll under the heavy pressure. With each revolution of the roll a blemish would appear in the finish of the fabric because of the improper contact between the rolls and fabric each time the impression came around.

Heretofore the above difficulty has been overcome by manual control of the rolls by a skilled operator, but this is not only expensive because an operator is required for each machine, but also because prevention of the difiiculty depended entirely on the watchfulness of the operator in detecting each seam in the fabric and then acting quickly in relieving the pressure on the rolls to move them apart. In this method the operator would relieve the pressure just before the seam entered the roll and then reapply the pressure just after the seam passed the roll. The unfinished sections are then cut out of the length of fabric and discarded as waste. It will be seen that the length of the unfinished sect-ion depended entirely on the judgment of the operator. If he waited too long in relieving the pressure, or, if he reapplied the pressure too soon, then the roll would be marred and, if he relieved the pressure too soon or reapplied it too late, then the section to be discarded would be longer than necessary and wasteful of material, particularly in high speed machines.

In other instances the seams are removed .by what is known as the pasting operation in order to prevent the seam from making an imprint on the soft roll in the event that it is allowed to go through the rolls or calender. It is also necessary at times to tear out seams known as three stitch flat seams, or merrow seams, and to replace them with a large seam with quite a burr on it. This type of scam is very destructive to the soft roll in the calender.

One of the primary objects of my invention is the provision of fabric actuated mechanism for automatically relieving and reapplying the pressure on the finishing rolls in such timing as to not only avoid marring of the rolls but also to.

minimize the waste.

Another object of my invention resides in the provision of a device operating to automatically skip every seam in the fabric being finished whereby pasting operations such as mentioned above are eliminated.

A more specific object of my invention resides in the provision of automatic mechanism for the above purpose having a member actuated by the seams in the fabric to effect a relieving of the pressure on the finishing rolls immediately before a seam enters the rolls and to reapply the pressure immediately after the seam passes the rolls.

How the foregoing; together with such other objects and advantages as may hereinafter appear or are incident to my invention, are realized is illustrated in preferred form in the accompanying drawings, wherein- Figure 1 is a fragmentary front elevational view of certain parts of a fabric finishing machine necessary 'to an understanding of my invention with the fabric actuated mechanism of my invention applied thereto;

Figure 2 is an end elevational view looking toward the right in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a more or less diagrammatic view illustrating a typical installationdn accordance with my invention;

Figure 5 is a modification of my invention; and

Figure 6 is an enlarged fragmentary plan section taken on the line 6-6 of Figure 1.

In the drawings I have indicated only those parts of a fabric finishing machine which are necessary to an understanding of my invention,

The bearing I0 is mounted for up and down movement in the vertical guides I I carried by the frame 8, and such movement is imparted thereto by means of a hydraulic cylinder l2 having a piston I3 therein connected to the bearing l8 by means of a piston rod H.

A suitable valve mechanism, such as. illustrated at A in Figure 4, is provided for controlling the supply of fluid under pressure to the cylinder l2, and this valve mechanism is under control of a valve actuating mechanism The mechanism B is actuated by a solenoid C which is controlled by a fabric actuated device D operating to energize and de-energize the solenoid C, as will hereinafter the relay E to the solenoid C and the relay opfully appear. I t

The valve device A comprises a casing having bores l6 and I1 forthe valve members l8 and I9 connected together by means of a member having a rod 2| extending therefrom to which a piston 22 is connected, the piston operating in a cylinder 23.

In the position of the parts illustrated in Figure 4 fluid under pressure is led to the bore l6 from aligned ports and 3| from the latter of which.

a pipe 32 leads back to the pump, it being noted that in the position illustrated the valve l9 covers the ports 38 and 3| so that there is no return flow to the pump.

Thefiuid under pressure which is thus led to the cylinder l2 moves the piston l3 upwardly,

causing the lowerroll 1 to be moved upwardly under heavy pressure against the upper roll 6 with the fabric 33 located between the rolls. While I have only shown the right-hand frame member and associated bearings and cylinder of the machine, it is to be understood that a similar arrangement is employed at the left-hand end of the rolls, the cylinder of which is supplied with fluid under pressure by means of a branch pipe Referring now to the fabric actuated device D, it will be seen that it comprises a support 34 secured to the frame 8, a lower bar 35 extending underneath the edge portion of the fabric 33 and carrying a roller 36 in contact with the bottom face of the fabric, a parallel upper bar 31 extending above said edge portion of the fabric and carrying a pivot 38 for a lever39. The pivoted lever 39 carries a roller 40 at its free end 4H which rides on the upper face of the fabric directly above the roller 36. In order to take care of different thicknesses of cloth and of the seams the support 380. which carries the pivot 38 is adju'stable as by means of the nuts 382). In the form of my invention illustrated in Figures lto 4 inclusive this lever 39 is provided with a plate-like portion or shutter' 42 at its free end 43 adapted, when in the position shown, to be out of the path of the light beam of a light sensitive device comprising a photo-electric .cell 44 mounted on a plate 45, and a device 46 constituting a source of light mounted opposite to the electric cell and supported by the support 34. The plate 45 is provided with a slot, 41 through which the light from the device 46 passes to the electric cell 44.

By referring particularly to Figures 2 and 3, it will be seen that normally the device D is in the position above described because as long as the run' of fabric is without seams the lever 39 remains as shown. However, when a seam, such as indicated at 48, contacts the roller 4i), it will be moved upwardly, thus swinging the lever on its pivot and causing the plate-like portion 42 thereof to be moved downwardly into the beam of light,

thus cutting off the light source to the photoelectric cell.

Referring to Figure 4, I have shown the electric supply lines 49 and 50 connected to a time de;- lay relay,=in'dicated at E, which is energized by the output of an amplifier indicated at F. The photo-electric cell 44 is located in the input circuit of the amplifier F. Wires 5| and 52 lead from erates to connect the solenoid C to the supply lines 49 and 50 when the light beam is uninterrupted and to disconnect it when the light beam is interrupted.

Assuming now that the device D is in normal position, i. e., in the position shown in the drawings wherein the rollers 36 and 48 are not being contacted by a seam in the fabric, then the plate 42 is out of the path of the light beam and the relay E is operated to energize the solenoid C and move the valve actuating mechanism B into the position shown-in Figure 4. Stated more fully, when the light beam is uninterrupted by the'plate 42, i. e., when the run of cloth does not present a seam or the like to the roller 48 which will cause operation of the lever 39 of the device D to cut off the light source to the photo-electric cell 44, the relay E is energized so that the contacts 49a are engaged by the contacts 49b, thus closing the circuit which energizes the solenoid C. This moves lever 68 to the position shown in Figure 4. In this position air under pressurefrom the air supply chamber 53 passes through port 54, valve cavity 55 of the valve 56, port 51, and pipe 58 to the lower end of the cylinder 23, thus raising the piston 22 and moving the valves I8 and I9 of the valve mechanism A to the positions shown. As above described, this admits high pressure fluid into the cylinders l2 to raise the pistons l3 and bring the lower roll I into tight contact with the fabric and the upper roll.

The parts remain as above described until a seam contacts the rollers 36 and 40 of the device D, and this causes the lever 39 to swing on its pivot so that the end 43 moves downwardly to move the shutter 42 into the path of the light beam to interrupt it.

This cutting off of .the light source from the photo-electric cell actuates the relay E so as to disconnect the solenoid C from the electric supply lines. Stated more fully, when the shutter 42 is in the path of the light beam the output of the amplifier F is cut off so that no electric current is' supplied to the relay E. This causes the contacts 49b to move out of engagement with the contacts 49a and breaks the circuit to the solenoid C; The spring 59 then causes the lever 60 to swing on its pivot 6| to lift the valve 56 into its positibn of closing the port 54 and connecting the ,port 51 and cavity 55 to the atmosphere through the port 62. The valve 63 which had previously been in position to connect the pipe 64, port 65 and valve cavity 66 to the atmosphere through the medium of the port 61, as shown in Figure 4, is at the same time moved downwardly to cut off the outlet port 61 and to establish communication from the air supply chamber 53 to the upper end of the cylinder 23 by means of the port 68, valve cavity 66, port 65 andpi'pe 64. This moves the valves l8 and I9 downwardly, causing the supply port 25 to be covered and the discharge port 3| to be uncovered, thus allowing pressure fluid to ,the relay is effected fiow from the cylinders i2 through the pipes 29 and 29a, port 28, chamber 21, port 30, valve cavity 69, and port 3| into the pipe 32 for return to the pump.

Thus, the pressure on the lower roll 1 is re-' lieved and it moves downwardly away from the fabric, permitting the seam to pass between the rolls 6 and 1 without leaving an imprint on the lower roll which otherwisewould mar or deface its surface.

It is pointed out that as soon as the seam passes the rollers 36 and 40 of the device D the shutter 42 again moves out of the path of the light beam, but delay relay, such as diagrammatically illustrated in Figure 4, this does not immediately cause a re-application of 1 because the amount of time delay of the relay is so calculated that suflicient time elapses before the solenoid C is actuated to ensure that the seam has passed through the rolls. The time delay of by means of the spring 490, bellows i901 and air valve 49a of well-known construction, it being noted that when the relay is energized the spring 490 is first compressed but the contacts 49a and 4917 do not close until sufficient time has elapsed for the air to be forced from the bellows ltd through the adjustable air valve 49c. However, since that portion of the materlal which passes the rolls when they are out of contact is not finished and, therefore, becomes waste I adjust the time delay of the'relay so that the rolls will be brought into contact as quickly as possible after the seam has passed through the rolls.

In the modification of Figure 5 I have shown the arm lever 39a provided with a contact member in adapted to engage a contact II when the rollers 36 and ill) are in normal position, as shown,

and adapted to be separated from the contact ll when a seam contacts the rollers. When the contacts are in engagement the time delay relay operates to connect the solenoid C with the supply lines 49 and 50, thus energizing the solenoid and causing operation of the mechanisms A and B into the positions shown in Figure 4. When the contacts are separated by a seam contacting the rollers 36 and 40, the solenoid C and mechanism A and B are actuated to relieve the pressure on the rolls in the same manner as above described in connection with the first form of my invention.

In this form, as in the first form of my invention, P the support 38a is adjustable by means of the since the relay device E is a time tures disclosed herein are the pressure on the rolls 6 and e chines having a hard nuts 3% and in addition the contact H is carried by an adjustable bracket 12 whereby it may be adjusted in accordance with the thickness of the run of fabric.

While I have described my nection with a finishing machine having a hard and a soft finishing roll, it is to be understood that advantages of the invention may also be realized in finishing machines in which both of the finishing rolls are either hard or soft. marring of the surfaces of the finishing rolls from other causes such as folds in the fabric is also prevented because such folds would cause actuation of the device D.

Attention is called to the fact that certain feaalso disclosed and are claimed in my copending application Serial No. 368,289, filed December 3, 1940.

I claim: J

1. In textile finishing machinery, a hard and soft roll between which fabric having transverse seams is passed for finishing, pressure operated means for moving said rolls towardand away from each other, valve means controlling said moving means, means for operating said valve means, a time relay associated with said valve operating means, a movable member in contact with said-fabric, and photo-electric cell means associated with said movable member, said movable member and its associated parts normally effecting movement of the rolls toward each other under pressure and when contacted by a seam eifecting movement of the rolls away from each other, said timerelay being adapted to delay movement of the rolls toward each other until the seam has passedthe rolls. 1

2. Control mechanism for fabric finishing mas and soft roll pressure-held together between which fabric having transverse seams is passed for finishing, comprising pressure operated means for moving said rolls together and apart,valvemechanism controllingsaid pressure operated means, valve operating means, a light sensitive cell, a source of light, a relay controlled by said cell, and a member in contact withthe fabric normally out of the light beam from the light to the cell. hereby the aforesaid parts are operated .to pressure-hold the rolls together and movable into said light beam when engaged by a seam to operate said parts to move the rolls apart, said relay operating to delay movement of the rolls together.

a GEORGE L. WHITE.

Also. 

